Rankings
by Dragonist
Summary: In the begining, Reborn was a baby hitman and Lambo was a child cow. Reborn was Lambo's friend before he was his rival, but after Reborn was his rival, Lambo was Reborn's.


Rankings

"Reborn!" Lambo shouted as he charged the younger, but more experienced, child. "Your true rival, Lambo, has appeared!" Face shining with anticipation, the child wagged his finger during his introduction before tripping over the air.

"Ah!" With his cow costume on, the boy looked like he might have been grazing as he kissed the ground. Green eyes tearing up, he bit his lip as he tried not to cry. "Gotta stay calm..." He muttered. Pushing himself up, Lambo turned to shout at Reborn, only to find that he wasn't there. Tears escaping, he sobbed once before falling back. "Mph," he cried as he hit the ground, resting his head on his knees. "Not fair..."

Resting in a nearby tree, Reborn watched, black eyes contemplating. "Reborn..." Sharp ears caught the mutter, and the baby closed his eyes.

"Feelings..." Nodding in a sage like manner, "that's why he's weaker," a tiny hand twirled a green gun, "than me." A second later, the gun was a chameleon and the baby was gone.

"My rival," Lambo had said, and his rival Reborn would be.

- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Reborn! Wait for me!" The child in the cow costume whined as he struggled to catch up with the baby hitman. Ignoring Tsuna, who was muttering something to himself, Lambo pointed a finger at Reborn as he introduced himself. "Lambo has caught up with you!"

"I don't associate with low rankings." Reborn stated, face impassive, "rivals or not." Jumping off of Tsuna's shoulder, he quietly landed on the fence, eying his small, green chameleon. Sparing a glance at Tsuna, who pretended nothing was going on, he decided to see if his student could handle the walk on his own.

Eyes bright, Lambo stared at Reborn with a determined look on his face. "You're not my rival then," the child crossed his arms assuredly, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the small smile Reborn always wore. Sitting on the fence, Reborn reminded himself that he didn't have feelings. "So..." As Lambo thought, chewing his bottom lip, the two year old hitman tried to fall asleep. "So that means we're friends! So,"

Eyes still shut, the baby froze. With his eyes closed, he stretched quickly and started off after Tsuna. By the time the happily rattling child noticed, Reborn was already out of sight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I, the great Lambo, have found you!" Shooting the idiot a derisive look, Reborn tried to ignore him. The toddler refused to turn around when he heard the crash, but looked when Lambo started wailing.

"I don't associate with low ranking crybabies." He crossed his arms looking quizzically at the mournful, but now quiet, child. "I'm busy now, so go away." Hopping to his feet, the baby hitman started to walk away.

"Hey!" Lambo rubbed his eyes and lunged after him. Landing with his head on the baby's shoes, he latched on to his pants. "Where're you going?"

"Hitmen don't have friends." It was more than that, but he really didn't want to get into a feelings lecture right now. He was pretty sure Lambo wouldn't understand it, so it would be a waste of his time. "So I don't have you." Glancing at Lambo's green, watery eyes, he tried to shake him off of his legs, hoping he wouldn't cry on his new, tailored, expensive suit. "You're getting my suit dirty," Reborn remarked as he looked away from the strange child.

"Well then, we aren't friends!" Lambo found himself shouting. "So I get to play with you!"

"If we're not friends, why would we play together?" Reborn glanced down at the furiously thinking boy. "And, if we're not friends, and we're not rivals, than what are we?" It was a hypothetical question, so Reborn escaped before his ... something... could answer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A little over ten years later, Tsuna looked at his tutor before startling. "Reborn?" He hesitantly asked, the fear of his tutor's illogical teaching methods keeping him from speaking loudly. From age one to age fourteen, his mad logic had remained unchanged. "What are..." He couldn't find the strength to finish his sentence, so it trailed off at the end.

Sitting on a couch to the left of Tsuna, the impeccably dressed hitman stared, nonplussed, at his student. Around him stretched two arms, hands clasped loosely in the middle, and his head reclined on a slim shoulder. Soft, even breathing could be heard from the body wrapped around the hitman. Hair as black as night hung off his black hat, a few strands falling in front of Reborn's face.

Sneaking an arm around the sleeping Lambo's shoulder, he glanced up at the slightly older, but less mature, hitman. "Hmm..." Reborn turned back to Tsuna. His face blank except for his customary smile, he turned towards the wary boy and decided to say something before his student bolted.

"He's my lover." Tsuna felt his cheeks light up as he dashed out of the room, pulling the confused Gokudera and oblivious Yamamoto with him.

Reborn's smirk faded as he turned to the still sleeping boy around him. "Cow," he remarked. Dimmed slightly, his eyes lit up the room as Lambo snuggled into him. "My cow."

* * *

A/N : I was dragged into watching the first couple of episodes with my friend, and I fell in love with the scene where Reborn introduces Bianchi. After I saw Lambo, who was cute in a little kid way and then adorable in a clueless teenage way, I wanted to find a way to have Reborn use that line with him.


End file.
